Hand Held for Hygeine

Dental hygienists take most of the radiographs in a typical dental office and they experience the frustrations of taking x-rays on a daily basis. Fortunately there is an amazing new technology that eliminates many of the hassles and frustrations of taking radiographs in the traditional manner. The Nomad from Aribex is a handheld x-ray machine that allows you to stay in the room while you are exposing the image.

The ability to stay in the room while you take the image and better yet hold the tube eliminates most of the problems we encounter when taking an x-ray. How about that over-extended or out-of-adjustment arm that slowly slides south whenever you place it on the upper left? Or the arm that just doesn’t allow you to place the cone exactly parallel so you have the patient slump down, twist the chair and turn their head just so. No problem when you hold the cone.

Then there is the patient who just can’t keep the film or sensor where you placed it. As soon as you turn away they swallow or shift their bite and your perfectly positioned sensor is no longer perfect. When you are standing next to the patient you can see if the sensor moves and fix it.

Finally there are elderly or special needs patients who have limited mobility or may be confined to a wheelchair. With Nomad you do not need to drag them to the treatment room and maneuver them into the dental chair you can take an x-ray image anywhere. In fact as the ultimate benefit of mobility you can use Nomad in a nursing home or mobile clinic or on a humanitarian mission.

Sorry, but some of your statement don’t hold well with my way of thinking. Certainly of benefit on humanitarian missions but in the office can you feel confident that the device is protecting the technician against scatter radiation? A radiation badge shows potential harm after the fact whereas with a wall mount system you can stand away or hide behind a wall with far greater sense of protection. http://www.dental-tribune.com/articles/content/id/7727/scope/news/region/usa

Lester, You are wise to be concerned with user safety. All the research confirms that Nomad does protect the user from scatter radiation. On the other hand there are some other brands that do not and are not approved by the FDA for use in the US. In other words not all hand helds are created equal.

New digital radiation badges that connect to a computer USB port can tell the user of excess exposure at any time, there is no wait for the lab to process and report.